Analysis of the Film That Thing You Do Directed by Tom Hanks - Movie Review Example

Film Critique: That Thing You Do! That Thing You Do! “is a musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Tom Hanks” (Maslin, 1). The film is basically set in the summer of 1964.The producers of the film are Edward Saxon, Jonathan Demme and Gary Goetzman. The movie is based on the story of the quick rise of a pop rock band in early 1964 and its fall. The title of the film resulted in a musical hit with the band “That thing you do”. The film was released in October fourth 1996 in the United States of America and has a runtime of 108 minutes Major stars in the film, “That Thing You Do” include; Jimmy Mattingly (Johnathon Schaech) the leader of The One-ders, guitar and lead vocals, Mr.

White (Tom Hanks) who is the band’s second manager, Faye Dolan (Liv Tyler) Jimmys girlfriend and the bands "costume mistress", Tina (Charlize Theron) Guys girlfriend, Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) the drum player in the band and Steve Zahn (Lenny Haiser) the guitarist and backing vocals of the group. In the year 1964, Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) is a jazz drummer working at his family’s Erie, Pennsylvania Appliance store. Because the regular drummer of the band (Giovanni Ribisi) has broken his arm, Lenny Haise (Steve Zahn) and Jimmy Mattingly (Johnathon Schaech) approach Guy Patterson to ask him to sit in with their band at the annual Mercyhurst College talent show (Maslin, 1).

During rehearsals, the group carefully rehearses a sensational ballad titled “That Thing You Do.” Faye Dolan (Liv Tyler), Jimmy’s girlfriend suggests that the group call themselves “The Oneders”. She is inspired by Guy’s great performance at the rehearsal. After a brilliant rehearsal, Guy messes up in the talent show by playing a faster tempo for “That Thing You Do! than in rehearsals. The audiences react negatively to the song, but Oneders eventually emerge the winner of $100 top prize.

After the talent show, the group started playing gigs, they played at a local pizza parlor as their first gig. Maslin (1) reveals how they started selling a single of “That Thing You Do! with the help of Guy’s Uncle Bob (Chris Isaak). The single attracted the attention of Phil Horace (Chris Ellis) the local manager. Horace signs the group to bigger gigs and they are given airplay of the single. The band is offered a contract with Play-Tone Records by Mr. White (Hanks), they sign the contract and change their famous band name to “The Wonders” in order to avoid confusions.

The group then is faced with internal disagreement which leads to their fall. Jimmy disagrees with White and other band members while the bass player leaves the band with a group of marines. The genre of the film is based on comedy, drama and music. Comedy in this film can be seen when Guy Patterson performed well during the rehearsal then messed at the talent show. According to Maslin (1) it is a comic act that despite the confusion at the show, they are awarded the price. Musically, the film focuses a lot on the rock band group, it tales of the group’s main origin in addition to how they ended their music career in a down fall.

There is drama in the film when group members of “The Wonders” engage in a disagreement and members living the group one by one. That Thing You Do! is generally a delightful film that you do not want to miss, it keeps you entertained till the end. With its soothing and pleasant theme song, one can get hooked to the film (That Thing You Do, 1). To all movie fans, this is a must watch. Personally, I can watch the movie repeatedly without getting bored because its full of comedy, drama and lovely music.

Works Cited Maslin, Janet. “That Thing You Do (1996): Movie Review.” New York Times. 04 Oct. 1996. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. That Thing You Do, Dir. Tom Hanks. Perf. Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, Ethan Embry and Tom Hanks. Twentieth Century Fox, 1996. Film.